Iran: Toll in stampede during funeral of Iran's military general Soleimani reaches 56

The death toll in a stampede during the funeral for Iranian general Qassem Soleimani at his hometown in Kerman has reached 56, according to the Iranian television.

The death toll in a stampede during the funeral for Iranian general Qassem Soleimani at his hometown in Kerman has reached 56, according to the Iranian television. Over 100 people have been injured in the incident, Sputnik reported.

Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq last Friday, Anadolu agency reported. His death marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the US and Iran, which have often been at a fever pitch since President Donald Trump chose in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw Washington from a 2015 nuclear pact world powers struck with Tehran.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who gave Soleimani the country's highest honour last year, vowed "severe retaliation" in response to his killing. The Pentagon accused Soleimani of plotting the earlier embassy attack in Iraq and planning to carry out additional attacks on US diplomats and service members in Iraq and the region. (ANI)